


BOTW oneshot collection

by chase (wendighosts)



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Gen, Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Selectively Mute Link (Legend of Zelda), Trans Link, also it took all of my courage to post this please be nice to me, also king rhoam stinks, any time he appears he's like a mega jerk lmao, i havent written in over 2 years im trying, ill add more tags as i write more probably, revali turns out to be nicer than he lets on
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 15:59:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17328089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wendighosts/pseuds/chase
Summary: In which I suck at writing things with plot, but have too many ideas in my head to NOT write them





	1. 1.

**Author's Note:**

> In which Link is trans, Zelda's dad sucks, and Revali isn't actually as mean as he could have been

The sound of the heavy door at the end of the hallway brings any prior conversation to a halt. An irritated look crosses Zelda's face, as if she already knows who it is walking down the hallway towards her. "Father." She says, voice carefully devoid of any irritation her face had shown moments before.

Link kneels out of respect for the king, listening to him question first his daughter, then each of the champions, asking about the divine beasts, their plans to defeat the Calamity, and Zelda's progress with her powers. The conversation doesn't direct itself to Link, so he remains kneeling and remains silent. Honestly, he'd rather it be that way. 

"And the knight?" Rhoam's voice echoes around the hallway. Link is acutely aware of Rhoam's gaze on him, though his words are directed towards anyone but.

Zelda's tone is less than friendly as she speaks. "Fine. Things are fine." Her hands clasp at her sides, but otherwise she seems completely calm. _A feat,_ Link thinks, recalling how he'd overheard her ranting to Urbosa about her father not even an hour prior.

Rhoam nods. "Good. I trust her duties are being fulfilled."

_Her._

The room goes quiet, and Link feels his throat tightening. He remains perfectly still, though he wants nothing more to turn around and leave. He's used to the comments. He's used to the sneers. _This is nothing new,_ he tells himself. Next to him, Revali moves, feathers rustling softly. Link tenses; he sees the king's head turn in his peripheral vision.

"Forgive me, sir," Revali starts, folding his wings (arms?) across his chest. "but I believe you meant 'his...?'" Link's face flushes, but he makes a point not to look up.

Rhoam is deadly silent for a moment, too long for anyone's comfort, before conceding.

"...Yes. His. My apologies." With this, Rhoam nods to Zelda and departs.

Revali scoffs as soon as the door closes. _"Honestly,_ like it's hard..." He turns to Link. His expression is disdainful, but his eyes say otherwise. Link opens his mouth as if to speak, then thinks better of it. Instead, he signs out a quick _'thank you.'_

Revali's expression is unreadable for a moment, but he regains himself quickly. "Don't thank me," He chides, waving Link off. "Even  _you_ aren't deserving of that kind of treatment."


	2. 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Link recalls an unsavory memory and finally deals with some pent-up emotional trauma.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Getting this typed out was such a pain I accidentally deleted it halfway through and then my roommate went to sleep so I had to try to type really quietly so I didn't wake her up but I was DETERMINED to get this done.  
> TL;DR all i'm good at writing is angst. Enjoy!

Something about Fort Hateno had always felt familiar to Link. He was certain something had happened here, but the memories stayed locked away like so many others.

A few paces ahead of him, Zelda scans the field, littered with now-still guardians, with apprehension in her eyes.

"Have you ever seen this many in one place?" She turns to look back at him. "I mean... you've been all over Hyrule, certainly this isn't the only place like this?" 

Link shakes his head.  _'Only here, but they're all dead now.'_ He glances out over the field, hands pausing for a moment before he continues to sign to Zelda.  _'I don't like it here. I think something happened here, but I can't remember what.'_

Zelda turns away, rather swiftly, and marches forward at a brisk pace. "Well, let's keep moving. We'll never make it to Hateno Village before sundown at this rate." A small smile plays at her lips. "It's been quite a while since I last visited the tech lab..."

Link follows her, opting to explore the field rather than follow the path with Zelda. Curiosity is in his nature, and he wants to see if there are any spare ancient parts among the guardians.

He wouldn't mind remembering a thing or two about this place, either.

* * *

 

Zelda's voice draws Link back to reality. He looks for her from his vantage point atop one of the many long dead guardians and spots her waiting by the gate for him. He takes a running leap, and settles into a jog as he heads towards Zelda.

He can't help but wonder what brought  _this_ many guardians to one spot. Perhaps he doesn't want to know, he thinks, as another pang of aching familiarity shoots through his chest.

As he nears the gate, Link veers to the side to search the body of another guardian, frozen as it crawls over a rocky hill.

He stops dead in his tracks. 

 _I've seen this before,_ he realizes.  _But when...?_

Before he can even finish the thought, it comes to him in a flash.

_He remembers the pain first- like every nerve in his body was on fire. He was hurt, badly._

_He remembers the guardians second- swarms of them, crawling over the walls, over hills, everywhere that he looks._

_He remembers Zelda third- Zelda, voice hoarse, shouting desperately for him to leave, to run, to save himself. He remembers his resolve, turning and staring up into the bright red light of the guardian that was closing in on the two of them. Then, he remembers... light. Bright, blinding, golden light. And then... nothing._

Link snaps back to reality with a gasp just as he feels a pair of hands grip his shoulders.

"Link?" Zelda is the epitome of concern. "Link, what happened? You just froze... Are you alright...?" She trails off as he shakes his head.

"I remember." He chokes the words out past the lump forming in his throat. It vaguely occurs to him that it's been over a century since Zelda last heard his voice, but he's shaking too much to sign and he can't feel his hands right now.

"Link..." Zelda's eyes soften and she renews her grip on Link's shoulders. She speaks with such kindness that he nearly loses what little composure he's maintaining.

"I couldn't protect you." Link realizes he's crying, but it's too late for him to try and calm down. "I couldn't stop it-"

Zelda pulls him into an embrace, which he welcomes gladly. "That's not true, Link."

He can't bring himself to respond and instead leans into Zelda for support, as his legs are starting to give under him. She lowers them both to the ground, keeping a steadfast hold on Link the whole time and stays quiet, offering words of comfort periodically. It's a long while before Link is able to speak again.

"I couldn't stop it. The one thing I was supposed to do, and I failed."

"You didn't. It was out of your hands- out of all of our hands." 

LInk shakes his head, but otherwise doesn't respond. It feels like there's a hinox stepping on his chest, and he can't bring himself to speak anymore.

"None of us could have seen it coming, Link." Zelda's voice is soft. "You don't have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders because things went wrong." 

He nods silently. Zelda's words make sense to him, and he knows she's right- he can't carry the blame on his own, as much as he feels like he should. Link nods again, a little more firmly this time. Zelda nods back, then stands up and offers a hand to him. He takes it and allows her to pull him to his feet.

He takes a deep breath, trying to shake off the last of his guilt. It doesn't work.

"It's not easy, I know. I'm still processing it for myself, but... I'm here. You're not dealing with this alone." Zelda locks eyes with Link for a moment, allowing him to nod once. Satisfied with his responses, she turns back to the path as if nothing had happened at all. "We should keep moving forward... Do you think we'll still make it before sundown...?" She turns to look at him. 

 _'We might,'_   Link signs to her, retreating back to his former silence.  _'If we stop messing around and actually get moving.'_

Zelda rolls her eyes, a smile playing at her lips. "Then let's stop messing around and get moving." She sets off again, Link in tow.

He glances back over his shoulder as they pass through the gates, barely allowing himself to see anything before turning his attention forward again. Link puts the image of the field and the long-dead guardians out of his mind for the moment.

He'd much rather focus on what's ahead of him, anyways.

 

 

 

 


End file.
